From Doom Metal to Gothic Metal, this Ukrainian band serves us up some romantic Gothic Metal. For Ex Animo this is their second full length in over 16 years since the band was formed, and is released through Metal Scrap Records. This is a band who have changed genre from Doom Metal to Gothic Metal, so I was very interested to see how they would cross over. 'Neverday' starts with a catchy pulsating riff. Double bass and synths work their way forward before the beautiful silky female vocals of Yulia Zhukova take lead. Growls entwine in between, before taking the lead, in the form of Andriy Lunko who also contributes guitar. 'Aeons of Sadness' is another solid track. Headbanger riffs at the start again set you in the mood. For me, by the third song - 'Soulglass' - something seems familiar to me like I have heard it before. It's a comfortable presence, the songs have a commercial side to them so this would probably be suited to a wider audience as well. The song still has some great catchy melodies to it, as does the album as a whole. The album features synths but they do not play as huge part as I thought they might, and Ex Animo focus more on the excellent guitar work they have to offer. All the lead and solo work is of high standard. It's well put together and the harmonies and vocals blend effortlessly. The separation between the bass and guitars is also great. For me in particular there is no real stand-out track, as they are pretty much all of the same standard, but if I had to pick one 'Scream of Silence' is a little gem. The vocal harmonies and the melodies on this song showcase Yulia's strongest points. Having only two album releases surprises me, as they clearly can produce good material. The mixing and mastering of the album is top notch. Like I said, this band can easily go mainstream if promoted right. It is easy listening, and a younger audience will definitely dig this kind of music. Fans of Nightwish and Evanescence will benefit from 'Neverday'.

The female-male band from Ukraine first time got in my hands to I could listen to them and rate their work that to offer their album to other listeners. “Neverday” is the band’s second full-length album with a dark inspirational cover. The band formed in 2000 and is an active band on the music scene.A disc contains eight songs. From the first and title track, the music seemed to me interesting. So, I was more eager to listen to more songs. The male line-up was supplemented in 2008 by a woman with an interesting, clean, singing vocal, whish gave the songs a climate of lightness. And I think it was accurate supplement to the band. Additionaly, the dark, hard-sounding, male vocal gives an aggressiveness and sharpness to the songs. Together, the both vocals sounds great. I’m a fan of NIGHTWISH with Tarja Turunen on vocals, so I like the music in this kind of male-female connection. And in addition in a good, professional performance is very delicious.This band is really impressive. The interwoven male-male vocals fantastically build a tension and their permeation in the songs sounds like an interesting conversation. Such compositions and musical arrangements remind NIGHTWISH or THE GATHERING from the first albums.Ukraine once again saved their music scene and proved their artistic professionalism, which is confirmed by the high quality of the tracks. The musicians have created a work of art and they can boldly conquer music scene with their Metal. This album has a rich, elaborate music, which in addition has interesting vocals and is exceptional. The instruments play fascinating and entrancing. This is a collection of outstanding sounds that give chills. The instrumental interesting introductions to the tracks, the extended solos, the dignified sounding keys make you are hungry, you feel desire for more.I feel that I found another band for me and I already know that EX ANIMO without problem will find even more fans.

Well, and there goes another female vocal band with tons of keyboard arrangements, progressive elements and guttural growls here and there. This band is not bad at all; it’s just that I’ve heard so many copies of Nightwish, Evanescence, Epica, etc, that definitely I’m not attracted to this style anymore.Coming from Kharkiv, Ukraine, these guys have been active since 2000 or something, but this is the second opus since then, and I don’t know why they are not so prolific musically speaking, since all songs are good and well-conceived. Actually, all songs are very solid and contain excellent musical arrangements. Here you will detect excellent melodies forged in aggressive guitar riffs, “epic” moments, and high doses of modern elements. This band has clear what they want: a good mix of modern metal, melodic death metal and progressive structures. The result is brilliant and I’m sure many of young followers of modern metal are going to worship, if the band promotes this album properly. As aforementioned, I’m not very into this style anymore, but I admit that this band has everything to land in almost every big festival with “mainstream” big names. For those who like these bands above mentioned, this is for you.

Ex Animo are a band from Ukraine that plays a mixture of dark, goth, doom and death metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "Neverday" which was released by Metal Scrap Records.A very symphonic keyboard sound starts off the album and also mixes in with the heavier guitars a few seconds later while also using melodies at times and after a minute female vocals and clean playing are added into some parts of the songs and death metal and black metal screams are also a very huge part of the recording.All of the musical instruments on the recording have a very powerful sound to them and when the music speeds up a small amount of blast beats can be heard and the solos and leads also stick to a melodic musical direction and some songs bring in a small amount of spoken word parts and one track brings in a brief use of spoken word parts and some of the tracks are very long and epic in length along with most of the music sticking either to a slow or mid paced musical direction and there is also a brief use of violins and acoustic guitars on a later song.Ex Animo plays a musical style that takes goth, doom and death metal and mixes them together with a touch of black metal to create a musical style of their own, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover dark and depressive themes.In my opinion Ex-Animo are a very great sounding mixture of goth, doom and death metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Aeons Of Sadness" "Shattered Universe" and "Scream Of Silence".

This first encounter with the band Ex Animo, hailing from Ukraine, is a windfall. This collective has been around since 2000 and one can hear that we are dealing with experienced, talented musicians. In 2004 they released their debut album ‘Solitary’, but then it became silent around the band. They evolved from a doom metal band into more gothic allied music. That means more accessibility and the recruiting of a female singer. Their sophomore album includes three older tracks from the demo ‘Soulglass’, but they are rearranged and re-recorded, in order to sound as it was meant. The album is completed with five new tracks.Fortunately there is still a firm amount of dark doom heaviness in the music of Ex Animo. Indeed, when female singer Julie Orwell sings her lines, the whole thing is smoothened, but founding member/guitarist Andrew Lunko often adds his juicy rough death grunts. The guitar rhythms have momentum in opener and title track ‘Neverday’, while ‘Aeons Of Sadness’ slowly enters the room and then cuts loose in ponderous mid-paced tightness. The soaring keyboard layers are assimilated into the music in a wonderful manner and the band really impresses with its melodic, fervent guitar solos that illustrate their love for classical heavy metal. Whispered passages add a kind of mysterious flavour to the lengthy compositions and we kept on listening with excitement. This is highly recommended for doom/gothic metal fans of the older, yet excellent and proved recipe.